Reading and Writing Numbers Teaching Resources
Teach students how to read and write numbers in a variety of forms with this extensive collection of printable worksheets, digital activities and more resources for elementary teachers!
Bring these essential maths skills to life with the help of Common Core and TEKS math curriculum-aligned resources that have been created with your lesson plans — and your students — in mind! Best of all, each resource has undergone a careful review process by an expert teacher on the Teach Starter team to ensure it's classroom-ready.
Looking for tips to help your students express quantities accurately and effectively? Read on for a primer from our teacher team on reading and writing numbers, how to teach these concepts and more!
Teaching Students How to Read Numbers
Before we can talk about writing numbers, we need to to set the foundation with reading them.
Once students can recognize numerals, it's typical for teachers to dive deep into place value. We want our students to understand that each digit's position in a number represents a different value (e.g., tens, hundreds, thousands, etc.).
With that comes the ability to read two- and three-digit numbers (and later even larger whole numbers!) as our students come to understand that they're not seeing two distinct numerals side-by-side but a brand-new number that has been formed.
This requires learning new language too — words like twenty, thirty, forty, etc.
So let's break down how to read a few numbers!
Reading Two-Digit Numbers
In a two-digit number, the leftmost digit represents the number of tens, and the rightmost digit represents the number of ones. For example, let's look at the number 35.
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- The digit 3 is in the tens place, so it represents 3 tens or 30.
- The digit 5 is in the ones place, so it represents 5 ones.
To read the number 35, you say "thirty-five."
Here are a few more examples of how to read two-digit numbers:
- 45 — forty-five
- 27 — twenty-seven
- 93 — ninety-three
Reading Three-Digit Numbers
Let's go one level up. In a three-digit whole number, the leftmost digit represents the number of hundreds, the middle digit represents the number of tens and the rightmost digit represents the number of ones. For example, let's look at the number 371.
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- The digit 3 is in the hundreds place, so it represents 3 hundreds or 300.
- The digit 7 is in the tens place, so it represents 7 tens or 70.
- The digit 1 is in the ones place, so it represents 1 one.
To read the number 371, you say "three hundred seventy-one."
Here are a few more examples of how to read three-digit numbers:
- 134 — one hundred thirty-four
- 469 — four hundred sixty-nine
- 873 — eight hundred seventy-three
Teaching Students How to Write Numbers
Now that students can read multi-digit numbers, we can start talking about writing them in different forms, including expanded form. Writing numbers again comes back to place value, with each digit in a number representing a different value based on its position within the number.
Here's what that looks like:
How to Write Two-Digit Numbers
Write the digit in the tens place first. This will be the leftmost digit in the two-digit number.
Next, write the digit in the ones place to the right of the first number.
For example, to write the number "thirty-five," you would:
- Write the digit 3 in the tens place.
- Write the digit 5 in the ones place.
- In the end, you have written 35.
How to Write Three-Digit Numbers
Write the digit in the hundreds place first. This will be the leftmost digit in the three-digit number.
Next, write the digit in the tens place to the right of the first number. This will be the middle digit in the three-digit number. Finally, write the digit in the ones place to the right of the middle digit.
For example, to write the number "three hundred fifty-two," you would:
- Write the digit 3 in the hundreds place.
- Write the digit 5 in the tens place.
- Write the digit 2 in the ones place.
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6-Digit Number of the Day Worksheet
A 6-digit place value worksheet to represent the number of the day in different ways.
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4-Digit Numbers Worksheet
Practice reading and writing 4-digit numbers with this printable PDF worksheet.
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Expanded Form Dominoes (5-Digit Numbers)
Use this set of dominoes when learning how to match 5-digit numbers written in standard form and expanded form.
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Daily Spiral Math Worksheet (3-4)
Review a variety of place value and number sense standards with a daily spiral math review worksheet.
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Place Value Charts — Printable Math Mats
Practice place value concepts, addition, and subtraction with a printable set of free place value charts.
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Place Value Chart - Ten Thousands Place
Download this blank place value chart to use in the classroom when teaching students about five-digit numbers.
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Expanded Form Worksheet Pack
Practice expanding 2-digit to 6-digit numbers with this set of 5 worksheets.
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Roll It, Make It, Expand It! - Place Value Worksheet
A worksheet for students to use when learning to write two-digit numbers in expanded form.
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Two-Digit Place Value Bingo Game (Digits and Base-10 Blocks)
32 bingo cards using place value up to 99.
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Representing Two-Digit Numbers - Place Value Worksheet
A set of worksheets for students to use when learning about place value and the different way two-digit numbers can be represented.
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Thanksgiving Color By Number Worksheet - 2nd Grade Place Value
Have some Thanksgiving Math fun with a printable Thanksgiving Color By Number worksheet to practice standard, expanded, word, and base ten forms.
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Find a Friend Expanded Form Worksheet
Explore expanding 2-digit to 6-digit numbers with your students with this expanding form active worksheet.
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Roll and Expand Numbers Worksheet Pack
Explore place value with your students using this set of leveled expanding numbers worksheets.
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Number Talks - Place Value Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 32 place value task cards.
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Place Value Bulletin Board
Unlock place value understanding with this bulletin board for back-to-school that can remain on the wall all year long!
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4-Digit Number Riddles Cut and Paste
Use these 4-digit number worksheets to help students practice matching numbers up to 10,000 with their word and expanded forms.
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Two-Digit Numbers Maze Worksheet
Explore two-digit numbers with this fun maze where students use clues to make their way from the start to the finish.
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2-Digit Numbers in Expanded Form Worksheet
Explore two-digit numbers in standard form and expanded form with this set of two cut-and-paste style worksheets.
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Expanded Form Task Cards
Help your students explore expanding numbers up to 6-digits with this set of task cards.
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2 Digit Place Value Puzzles
Teach students the different representations of 2-digit numbers with this place value puzzle.
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Expanded Form Poster Set
Teach students what it looks like to expand 2-digit, 3-digit, 4-digit, 5-digit and 6-digit numbers with this set of classroom posters.
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2-Digit Number of the Day - Spiral Review
Review a variety of second-grade math concepts with a Number of the Day slide deck and recording sheet.
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Number Forms Worksheet
Help students practice recognizing and writing numbers in word form and expanded form with this worksheet.
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Math Mazes (Place Value)
Determine the correct paths through each maze using knowledge of place value.
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Number Talks - Place Value Task Cards
Build number sense skills with this set of 24 task cards.
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Place Value Work Mat
Practice place value concepts with this work mat for students.
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Flip, Draw, Expand! – Place Value Worksheet (3-Digit Numbers)
A worksheet to use when practicing place value with 3-digit numbers.
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Place Value Banner - Billions to Thousandths
A banner that displays extended place value.
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Place Value Bingo Game - Numbers 0-999,999
32 different bingo cards using place value to hundred thousands.
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3-Digit Number of the Day Worksheet
A 3-digit place value worksheet to represent the number of the day in different ways.
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Place Value Spin
A fun place value activity for students to use in the classroom when identifying the number of 'tens' and 'ones' in two-digit numbers.
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Exploring 5-Digit Place Value PowerPoint
A 38-slide PowerPoint template to use when exploring place value in the ten thousands place.
- Reading and Writing Numbers Worksheets
- Reading and Writing Numbers Games
- Reading and Writing Numbers Templates
- Reading and Writing Numbers for Kindergarten
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 1st Grade
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 2nd Grade
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 3rd Grade
- Reading and Writing Numbers for 4th Grade